40 days without meat candy

St. Patty’s

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone! Did you know that it’s almost a sin in Ireland to refer to a “Patrick” as “Patty”? “Patty” is short for “Patricia”… you’re likely to get your block knocked off if you called a Patrick “Patty”.

“Patrick” is English for Padraig, or Paddy for short. Hence, the proper term is St. Paddy’s, NOTSt. Patty’s.

Okay, enough of the English (Irish?) lesson… let’s talk about what we’re eating today instead of bacon. Well, St. Paddy’s Day might be my favorite day during Lent as far as food is concerned, because I get to eat corned beef & cabbage all day long! Today, I traveled all over southern Palm Beach County trying salt-cured (or corned) beef.

First, I met Steve at Tilted Kilt. If you’ve never heard of this chain restaurant, it’s been described as “Hooters with a Scottish twist” – scantily-clad female serves in short kilts. But I was there for the food.

When Steve suggested the Tilted Kilt, I replied, “But they’re Scottish….” But upon looking at their website, they claimed that they were “in the tradition of Scottish, Irish, & English pubs”, and that the Boca Raton location we were visiting was holding their Grand Opening party that day, so I went. Their corned beef & cabbage platter was good enough to start the day, but I found the corned beef cut too thinly and it could have been more tender.

Next on the agenda was Dubliner. They are known for a huge St. Patrick’s Day block party every year – probably the official party of the City of Boca Raton. They have a buffet every year of salad, Guinness mac ‘n’ cheese, corned beef & cabbage, shepherds pie, and bangers & fries.

If you notice, their corned beef is much thicker and moister – cooked for hours – and falls apart when spooned onto the plate. And the Guinness-based shepherd’s pie and mac ‘n’ cheese are to die for. Outstanding.

Finally, I went to home and grabbed Susan and we went downstairs to Banana Boat for their St. Paddy’s celebrations. It’s not an Irish pub, but they’re always festive and serve food to match the occasion. Their corned beef was tender and cut thick – they always seem to do a pretty decent job with the food there.

All in all, it was a great day of food, Guinness, Jameson, Irish music, and green everywhere. And if you can’t have cured pig, why not some salt-cured (corned) beef??